Washing-machine



(No Model.)

L. GRONDAHL.

l y WASHING MACHINE.

W- il lll VIIIAVIIIIII, By.

' fave/71257* law @fonda/0( i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.,

LARs GRONDAHL, oF RED WING, MINNESOTA.

wAsHlNG-.MAQHINE SPECIFICATION OIming part 0f Letters Patent N0. 505,981, dated OCtOlQel 3, 1893. Application led October 20. 1892.4 Serial` No. 449,482. v(No model.)

To all' whom tm/ay con/cern.:

Be it known that LLARs GRONDAHL, a citi zen of the United` States, residing at Red Wing, in the county of Goodhue, State of Minnesota, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Washing-Machines, of which the following isa specication, referenceloeing had therein to the accompanying drawings;

My invention is designed to produce a neat and compact machine adapted to operate on large and small washings Without undue Wear on the clothes, during the operation of washing, and when not in use, to be transformed intoa piece of furniture resembling an upright refrigerator, and is animprovement on the washing machine for which a patent was granted to me February 23, 1892, No. 469,402.

The improvement relates to the means for fastening down and releasing the pounders frame, the means for elevating the pounders frame and retaining it at any desired elevation, and the means forv dividing the interior of the tank into two compartments.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a washing machine constructed in accordance with myv invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same on line a: a: of Fig. l. Fig. 3 represents on a larger scale a horizontal section of a portion of the stationary and movable frames adjacent'tothe `bearings of the main shaft, and a portion ot' said shaft in top view. Fig. 4. is a vertical section on line y y of Fig. l of the lower portion of the stationary and movable frames and the means for elevating the latter frame. Fig. 5 is a perspective of a portionof the upper part of the tank. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the dividing plate for said tank.

In said drawings A represents the end uprights of the frame, which are resting upon and are secured to the sills A2, and the latter are united together by the bottom boards A3. The two rear uprights are united together by the rear boards A4 of the frame. The front and rear uprights are united in pairs by boards A5 lsecured to their inner face, and are grooved vertically 'down the sides facing each other, and thus the uprights furnish parallel guides for the vertically movable side pieces B of the frame carrying the pounders O. The

`side pieces B are united together at the top,

by the stationary rear half D of the cover and ,at the rear by the horizontal strips B2, which are bolted to the strips B attached to the inside of the pieces B. Said strips B2 serve, also, as rear supports and guides for the vertical stems C2 of the pounders, a lateral movement of said stems being prevented by cleats b secured to the strips B2 in front of said stems. The pounder stems are vertically slotted to make room for the cranks on the crank shaft E, which has'its bearings in horizontal blocks B3 secured tov the inner side of the side pieces B. One end ofl said shaft extendsV through one of the pieces B and is provided with a crank-handle e having a socket to engage with said shaft, but removable therefrom. Between the crank-handle and the side B, a ratchet-Wheel e2 is secured upon thel shaft, and a pawl e3 is pivoted to the side B below the ratchet-wheel to engage .with the latter and prevent the shaft from rotating, and the sides B with their pounders from descending after they have been elevated to permit the removal of the tank F. Uponv the opposite end of the shaft E,a fly-Wheel E? is mounted, that may be used as a belt-wheel. VEach crank of the shaft E is united toa pounder by means of a connecting rod C3 having one end received in a cavity of said pounder and pivoted thereto at c. The front 'face of each pounder, is provided with horizontal serrations or inverted steps, which are. to press upon the clothes placed with suds in the tank F, and partly revolve them under each pounding, and to facilitate and obtain this rotation the concave bottom of the tank is made semicylindrical in continuation of its vertical Walls.

To facilitate the removal of the tank from the machine when the vclothes and suds are to be placed therein, or removed therefroln, small wheels f are mounted upon short axles and retained in cavitiesformed in blocks f secured to the bottom of the tank.

To permit the removal of the tank, the front A6 of the machine is hinged to the bottom board A3 and is adapted to be tipped down and make a floor level with the top of the board A3.

To facilitate the attachment of a Wringer to the tank, which is preferably of tinned IOO sheet metal, a narrow board f2, is attached to said tank along one of its edges. The tank may be divided into two or more compartments With one or more pounders to operate therein, either to reduce the size of the tank ,or permit clothes of different textures to be operated upon separately. For this purpose, a tinned sheet metal plate F2 is placed vertically across the tank and its form corresponds With the interior thereof. The edges F3 of said plate are bent and coiled around a wire to give thereto therequired stiffness and its upper edge is coiled around a Wire F4, the front end of which is bent to form a hook to enter one of the perforationsfS in the upper edge and front of the board f2, While its rear end is kept straight and is made to rest on the rear edge of the tank between the pounders.

To cause the lower end of the plate F2 to resist the pressure of the clothes subjected to the pounders in one of the compartments,

a rod F5 of suitable length is attached to saidv plate near the bottom thereof by a hooked toe piece F6 passed under and in the rear of a strap F7 secured to the side of the plate F2, the opposite end of the rod bearing against the end of the tank. A rod of suitable length is to be used according to the location given the plate F2 in the tank.

To elevate the frame B, carrying the pounders to permit the removal of the tank, a strap g of leather or other suitable material has one end secured at g2 to the back of each upright and passes through a slot in said upright to the front side thereof, where it descends back of the frame B, passes around a pulley 71, mounted in said frame and through a slotb2 therein, to a sleeve e4 to which the opposite end of the strap is secured. Said sleeve (one for each end of the shaft,) is mounted loosely upon the shaft, and has an under cut or dovetailed groove e5 lengthwise thereof, in which is placed a bolt e having its sides correspondingly beveled. To keep said bolt from escaping out of the ends of the grooves e5, it is longitudinally slotted, and through the slot thus formed, a pin e7 is secured to the sleeve'. The bolt has also a small knob es on one end,bywhich it can be moved endwise by the operator when he desires to clutch the sleeve e4 to a collar k that is fast on the shaft E. Said collar 7c has a V shaped groove k2 in its periphery, one arm of saidl V being parallel With the axis of the shaft, While the other arm is inclined to said axis.

When it is desired by the operator to elevate the frame carrying the pounders (after having released it from the stationary frame as will be hereinafter described,) the bolts e6 are pushed into engagement with the groove 7a2 as shown. on the left hand half of Fig. 3, and the handle e is rotated in the direction taken by the hands of a clock, until the pounders are sufficiently elevated to remove the tank. The pawl eJ is then placed in engagement with the ratchet Wheel e2 which retains the parts stationary. When it is desired to lower the frame B, the handle e is grasped and the pawl e3 removed from engagement with the ratchet wheel, and the handle is revolved in an inverse direction, and with it the shaft E and its V grooved collar 7c. The inclined face of said groove causes the bolt e to be pushed back Within the groove e5 to the position shown on the right hand half of Fig. 3, so that when the frame B has reached the bottom of its course, the shaft E is free to be rotated in either direction desired, to operate the pounders.

To prevent the frameA B from being pushed up by the pounders striking the clothes in the tank, said frame is locked down to the inner boards A5 of the stationary frame by means of screw rods m, each having a T head at the lower end thereof, and pivoted to said board A5. The upper end of each bolt enters a groove in the front end of the strips B4 .of the movable frame, and a thumb nut on said rod is made to bear upon said strips.

The upper part of the machine is closed by the cover D2, hinged to the rear portion D thereof, and by the front panel D8 hinged to ithe part D2 of the cover.

Having now fully described my invention, I claiml. The combination of a Washing-machine frame having uprights at the corners, a frame B adapted to slide between said uprights, a crank shaft, a grooved collar secured to said shaft, a sleeve loosely mounted upon said shaft, a longitudinally movable bolt to engage with the collar, and a strap having one end secured to the sleeve and the other end to one of the posts, with a guide pulley carried by the frame B, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a Washing-machine frame having uprights at the corners, a vertically movable frame between said uprights, a crank shaft, a collar secured to said shaft and having a groove with divergent sides in its surface, a sleeve loosely mounted on said shaft, a movable bolt retained by said sleeve, a strap having one end secu red tothe sleeve and the other end to one ot' the posts, and a guide pulley carried by the movable frame, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a Washing-machine frame having uprights at the corners, a vertically movable frame between said uprights, a crank shaft, a clutch member secured to said shaft, a sleeve loosely mounted upon said shaft and carrying another clutch member, a strap having one end secured to the sleeve and the other end to one of the posts, and a guide pulley carried by the movable frame, substantially as described.

4. The combination of a washing machine frame having uprights at the corners, a vertically movable frame between said uprights, a crank shaft, a ratchet Wheel thereon, a pawl to engage with said Wheel, a clutch mechan- IOC ism vupon said crank shaft and having one member carried by a sleeve, a strap having one end secured to the sleeve and the other to one of the posts and a guide pnlley'carried by the movable frame, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a washing-machine frame having uprights at the corners, boards A5 uniting said uprights, a vertically movable frame between said nprights, a crank shaft and vertically reciprocating pounders carried by the movable frame, and means substantially as described for elevating the movable frame, with bolts fm. pivoted to the boards A5 and having projections on their LABS GRONDAHL.

Witnesses:

C. A. RAsMUssEN, EINAR GRONDAHL. 

